Father and the Chocolate Factory

In the spirit of all things Easter, how about a tale of Easters past from my Family Stories?

This is my Dad. He is, of course, awesome in his own right. Being my Dad just happens to add kudos. So say I.

In addition to being an awesome Dad (and latterly Santa Claus lookalike), my Dad held one particularly special qualification when I was a child. He worked at the Cadbury’s Chocolate Factory in Bournville, Birmingham. Oh. Yeaaaahhh.

This is a factory steeped in history, and part of the heritage of not only my family, but of the social history of the UK. Founded almost 200 years ago it has endured wars, rationing, and forged a path during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century.

We lived pretty close to Bournville, and could clearly smell the chocolate on a day with a light breeze. It certainly made the corn flakes taste better before school.

To be perfectly honest, every day was a chocaholic’s dream, since being a lifelong employee at a chocolate factory did not come without staff perks (mainly in the form of large bags of misshapen Milk Tray caramels, Crunchie pieces and unwrapped Creme Eggs. What’s not to love?)

Amidst this sugary Shangri-La, Easter Sunday had to work hard to stand out, and there were more than a few forced smiles and “Oh thanks, chocolate!” s over the years. But Dad never disappointed. The Easter bonus usually looked like this. A mug with an egg. It is now a kind of trophy which represents my chocolatey childhood.

Dad took early retirement from Cadbury’s many years ago. Tuh. Not to worry, when we couldn’t rely on our old Dad any more, there was an Aunty with a Cadbury’s Staff ID card lurking in the shadows…….

What were the Easters of your childhood like?

BTW, not a single person has offered me even a morsel of chocolate to write this post. Bloody shocking. That is how loyal a Cadbury girl and how unresourceful a Blogger I am. More tales of Easter from proper Bloggers, at Tara’s Sticky Fingers Blog…

Not only looks like Santa but works in a chocolate factory too! not bad in the /Cadbury dad stakes I’d say. Am I right in thinking this factory was bought out by someone last year?
And I LOVE Easter eggs in mugs x

I can’t decide whether it would be a good or bad thing to work in a chocolate factory. I think I would have been the size of Augustus Gloop! I do remember having a new dodgy mug every easter as a companion to my chocolate egg!

Praise indeed. I shall now gloat in self-appreciation for a few minutes, whilst I put my youngest son (currently dressed in a Spiderman ‘onesie’) to bed!!! Thanks so much for coming by, and hope you enjoy a few giggles at my expense as you browse!! Helen

Bizarrely, we’ve watched Williy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory today (before I came across your blog!), and promised the kids that we’ll go to Bournville this summer. They’ve never been, but we have ;-) And I bought DH an egg in a mug this year (mini eggs!).
My dad worked in double glazing….would have been so much cooler if he worked at a chocolate factory!